Electronic devices, in particular mobile devices, are often equipped with a keyboard or keypad to allow user input. Currently, if a full keyboard, such as a QWERTY keyboard, is desired for a mobile device, the mobile device is designed to be larger than a typical mobile phone in order to accommodate the keyboard. A larger device is often undesirable. Even where a larger keyboard can be accommodated, a smaller keyboard would be useful for allowing extra space on the device for other purposes.
Even in devices that are large enough to accommodate a full keyboard, such as a QWERTY keyboard, the keyboard is typically still smaller than that of a desktop computer. The individual keys on a keyboard of a mobile device are usually relatively small and close to each other. This increases the likelihood of a typing error.
One solution is to provide a reduced keyboard or keypad on such devices. Reduced keypads typically use a single key for multiple different inputs. For example, in a reduced keypad, a single key may be used for input of the characters “A”, “B” and “C”, and the user has to tap the key multiple times to select the desired character. To assist user input using a reduced keypad, text prediction algorithms, such as SureType™, are often used. However, using a text prediction algorithm places extra demand on the device, using up device resources and battery power, both of which are limited on a mobile device. Further, text prediction algorithms are not error-proof, and typically cannot predict names, uncommon terms or acronyms. Thus, such algorithms often predict input different from what the user intends. Text prediction algorithms also are not convenient for typing passwords.
It will be noted that throughout the appended drawings, like features are identified by like reference numerals.